The dog and I awakened to the patter of rain this morning...a harbinger of a rainy Sunday afternoon--or so I thought. The sun is now shining with temps hovering at the 80 degree mark, but the air feels like autumn in Florida. No complaints, however. Whatever the weather, I never have to shovel it!

This Sunday Afternoon, I thought we'd start the preview of "Where the Lion Dwells" and give you all a glimpse of the book, which is available in print and electronic formats from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and other online retailers. Enjoy!

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Joanna
changed into her jeans and boots when she arrived home, and then let Santino
out for a short run in the yard. “Will you hurry up and do your work. You know
you don’t go to the stable with me at night. Come on.” Her encouragement didn’t
impress the poodle and he took his own sweet time sniffing all the bushes he
had already sniffed earlier in the day. Finally, he deigned to do his duty and
return to the house. She put a compact disk in the sound system that ran
throughout the house, flipped on the power switch, and then headed for the
stable. Low music played through the speakers in the background and the
stallion stood hipshot in his stall dozing in the dim glow of the overhead
light. At his head, Doctor al-Najid stood murmuring to him in Arabic. He turned
as she joined him and spoke to her once again in the same language.

“Masa alkhair. You are late tonight, Sayyida. What irregular hours you keep.”
Tonight, he dressed all in black with the trailing edge of his ghutrah pulled across his lower face. The
shaded glasses again hid his eyes. (To be continued)